On Gangster RapChapter 7

by Maxime Lanman

Hip-Hop as a Cultural Artifact● Hip-hop as a cultural text encompasses a variety

of different texts:○ Music style○ Fashion (FUBU, Phat Farm)○ Personal style (Accessories, gestures, posture, and hair)○ Location (specifically, inner city or urban)

● It is a heavily visual drama, it is present in fashion, movies, music videos, and our general lives

An Example of Hip-Hop CultureBaseball hats worn backwards, Heavy jewelry, Sunglasses, and bright colored sneakers, are a part of Hip-Hop culture.

Meanings in Hip-Hop● Hip-hop music is loaded with political and social meanings,

usually pertaining to race, nationalism, or economic class.● A good example of this is the song “Words I Never Said” by

Lupe Fiasco, where he sings: ○ “I really think the war on terror is a bunch of bullshit /

Just a poor excuse for you to use up all your bullets / How much money does it take to really make a full clip? 9/11, building 7, did they really pull it?”

● The song is a political message about 9/11.

Messages in Rap/Hip-Hop“Hard as They Come” by Cunnynlinguists, features another political message, about poverty, a “real” message about the racist stereotype that all African Americans are poor. He sings: “The truth is I’m on America’s dick / Uncle Sam fucks the poor and it’s making ‘em sick / Now their life’s in a tube, a downward spiral / Give a new meaning to going viral.”

Gangsta and Racism● Gangsta as an expression expresses the racist

attitudes that we have both verbally and visually, when we hear this word we think of racist attitudes we cannot express.

● The word “Gangsta” makes most people immediately think of gangs, guns, violence, and drugs-racist stereotypes.

Typical Imagery of Gangsta

This image depicts the violence using a gun, and the “bling bling” of the chains.

Gangsta is about African Americans

As previously mentioned, the word “Gangsta” makes most people think of violent or stereotypical images. It also makes us think of African Americans, because the entire genre of “gangster” presents verbal and visual signs that make us think so.

Exception to the RuleThe exception to the

rule, Eminem, is used to further prove the rule. In order for Eminem to be successful, he must surround himself with African Americans to be “accepted” into gangsta culture.

The “N-Word” - Queer TheoryThe “N-Word”, nigger or nigga, though a historically racist and demeaning word, has taken on a new and positively charged meaning in Gangsta culture.Queer theory is the idea that a word that is previously negatively charged can become empowering if embraced by the specific community or culture.Though the “N-Word” is present in many rap songs, someone who is not African American cannot use the word without offense, showing that it hasn’t fully lost it’s not completely defused of offense.

“Keeping it real” - A Marxist Critique

Gangsta rap represents itself as “keeping it real”, showing the listener what the life of an African American is, no “bullshit”. However, because many of this claims of what is real are not true, it perpetuates false and racist assumptions, while simultaneously stating that these assumptions are true.

This can be shown in a variety of rap songs that illustrate the life of an African American as dealing drugs, shooting people, and being arrested by the police, a stereotype which does not apply to the majority of the African American population.

False Claim #1: African American Culture is Violent

The racist ideology of African Americans are violent is perpetuated by Gangsta music, and also visually by crime series, and news focussing on street crime rather than white collar crime.

Texts of gangsta are filled with violent images and words, mostly revolving around guns, being shot, or shooting their rivals.

ExamplesThe violence can be shown in both the image, and also in the song lyrics “"I be placin' snitches inside lakes and ditches/And if I catch AIDS, then I'ma start rapin' bitches", from the song “All Black” by Big L.

False Claim #2: African American Culture is Overly Sexual

The false idea that African Americans are obsessed with sex originated from historically perpetuated ideas that allowed white men to exploit African American women.

Now, in Gangsta texts, women are treated like objects, called names like “Bitch” and “Ho”, and shown in music videos mostly naked and surrounding the man.

ExamplesThis can be seen in the image, where a man is with two women “lusting” for him.Another example could be the song “Big Booty Bitches” by A Lost People.

False Claim #3: African American Culture is Crassly Materialistic

This ideology asserts that African American culture is obsessed with gaudy, or over-the-top material things. This can be seen in music videos where they have the flashiest cars, big jewelry and chains, and even diamonds encrusted on their teeth (commonly known as a grill), and constant references to expensive brand names within the lyrics.

Examples

This image shows the gaudy type of materialism depicted in Gangsta culture. He has a grill (bling on his teeth), and gaudy jewels.

My AnalysisI agree that the genre falsely perpetuates stereotypes of African Americans that are false. The visual critique of music videos, and imagery of expensive brands, cars, and jewelry, the feminist critique of the over-sexualising of women, and the marxist critique that the false claims, while claiming it as “real” perpetuate the stereotypes further, are compelling and very interesting. I never looked so deep into the entire genre, and though I knew that none of the imposed racist attitudes were real, I had never thought about them in this way, and had always believed them just to be a style or fad that had little to no impact on the reality of the situation.